Over Breakfast
by Saiph Nebula
Summary: 1000 word piece, taking a short look at Meryl and Snake's relationship three months after Shadow Moses. Rated for 'mature references'.


Snake's internal clock was as finely tuned as every sense in his well-trained body. And it was this skill, which he'd exercised and honed for years as a soldier that allowed him to notice several things at once when he woke in his Alaskan cabin. The first of which was the sound of someone moving around in his kitchen, just down the hall. It didn't take long for him to identify the source of the noise as coming from the young woman who'd been sharing his home with him for the past three months. Secondly, he noticed he was completely naked. This was _not_ a common occurrence. Call him paranoid, but Snake dreaded the thought of being caught out one night by the enemy, wearing nothing but the skin he'd been born in. Though, if he were lucky (or unlucky, depending on your perspective) it might serve as a distraction long enough for him to react to any sudden intrusion.

Opening his eyes to the sight of dim daylight filtering through half closed blinds, he eyed the chaos left over from the night before. The sheets were twisted around his legs, clothes thrown across the floor and over his bedside table. His blinds hadn't even been closed. Pulling the cargo-pants strewn over the knocked-over lamp towards himself, he patted them down to find his slightly squashed packet of cigarettes, and placed one between his lips before pushing his legs into the trousers. His lighter was found somewhere under the bed, and Snake took the time to take a few deep drags before heading to the kitchen to investigate Meryl's disappearance from his bedside. He'd gotten used to her since they'd begun sharing a bed a month ago, and she was usually there in the morning, curled up at his side with a big grin on her face. He had to admit, it was pretty good to wake up to the sight of her happy, yet disheveled presence.

Treading silently down the hall, he stopped in the doorway to rest against the frame as he gratefully examined the site before him. Meryl, dressed in what seemed to be a pair of black underpants and one of his oversized shirts, buttoned at the top and tied under her breasts, was carefully trying to pry a pancake from the pan in her hand onto a nearby plate.

"You know," Snake murmured, "Spatula's were invented for occasions like this…"

He saw the smile on Meryl's face as she continued with her plight. "Spatula's are for sissy's" she replied, unsurprised by his appearance, "Did I wake you?"

"No"

"Are you hungry?"

"Sure"

Meryl wrinkled her nose playfully, "Then you'll have to wait, this one's for me"

Snake moved from the doorway to the small table lined against the wall, just below a small window that looked out toward the snow covered forest.

"Aren't you supposed to visit that Otacon guy some time soon?" the red-headed girl asked as she joined him, teasingly placing a large chunk of her breakfast on her fork before eating it.

Snake nodded, "Your uncle sorted things out for him. He's staying somewhere in California for now…"

Meryl listened silently, watching as the tip of Snake's cigarette burned red as he smoked it to the butt. It'd taken a while to adjust after Shadow Moses. She'd had dreams every night about faceless bodies covered in blood, and a man with snow white hair, laughing as she screamed under his torture…

Snake had never mentioned it directly, nor had he scorned her. She knew very little about him, only that he'd had his fair share of demons to face and conquer. Post Traumatic Stress had been a strong feature in his life a few years ago, it was why he'd moved to Alaska; to recover and to live a war-free life.

She'd never asked what made him go back in. A favor to her uncle? A sense of duty to his country?

Snake wasn't a big talker. He was a doer. He'd helped her overcome her own trauma, and the pair had steadily built some kind of relationship built on unspoken words and acts of consideration; a look over dinner, a touch of the hand, a kiss in the shadow of the night. It had all led to a shared bed. Overcoming her psychotherapy had been a challenge, but Snake was… persistent.

He'd never liked the idea of psychotherapy anyway. And he'd slowly gotten used to sharing a bed. Meryl suppressed a chuckle at the memory of him waking after they'd first… well, the surprise and confusion on his face had been so unexpected, she'd been amused rather then hurt.

But as she sat facing him, finally offering him a bite of her pancake from the end of her fork, a memory that was yet to escape her flitted through her mind for what felt like the thousandth time since becoming something of a permanent fixture in Snake's home.

The face of Psycho Mantis as he lay dying, and his words, spoken with raspy breath. She felt for Snake deeper then she'd ever felt for anyone in her life. Psycho Mantis had seen the mark the solider had left in her heart, but even he didn't know how long it would remain there. Snake was too slippery a being to keep a hold on for too long. He was too used to his solitude, sometimes, in those quiet nights, it seemed like he'd forgotten she was even there. Meryl did everything she could to remind him that she was right there with him, they'd promised to find a new life together after Shadow Moses… but sometimes it seemed there were just too many differences in their lives…

Meryl shook the thought from her head as Snake began to speak.

"Will you be coming with me?"

She placed her fork on her plate, listening to the scraping sound it made and wondering why it sounded so loud in the silence, "Do you think I should?"

"I'd rather not leave you up here alone" was Snake's simple reply. Meryl watched him fidget in his seat, knowing him well enough by now to understand that the words he'd spoken held more meaning then he was revealing. She was torn between flattered, pleased… and frustrated. How hard could it be for him to say it, to admit he wanted her with him. Unless he didn't…?

No. She forced the niggling doubts out of her head and told herself to stop being so insecure as she smiled at Snake – _Dave_ – tentatively.

"I'll go then. It'll be good to see my uncle again, anyway"

Snake nodded, his eyes trailing from her face to the wall above the oven, his expression unreadable.

"Still hungry?" Meryl asked, slightly unnerved as Snake began to smirk at her.

He raised his eyebrows, "Not really, I was just thinking about other uses for spatula's…"

It took Meryl a couple of seconds to understand his implications. Her cheeks reddened a little, but she was no longer the girl who had once gazed into a bathroom mirror, uncertain of her womanhood. She stood up from her chair, slowly, taking the plate with her to place in the sink.

"You think you could face my uncle, after something like _that_?" she grinned.

Snake smirked wider, his look was heated and somewhat smug, "I think I have the training to pull it off"

Meryl couldn't help but laugh at the slight wriggle of his eyebrows, she turned around to face him, her fingers coming up to undo the buttons above her chest.

"I think there's a soldier in here who could use some discipline" she teased.

Snake was already living up to his name as he stood to approach her, winding rough hands around bare hips. He pulled her against him, running his slightly unshaven chin along her jaw-line with a throaty growl.

"Maybe" he said lowly, "But I think I outrank you here, soldier"

His fingers suddenly found the not in her shirt, and pulled it open. Before Meryl could respond, he'd grabbed her by the waist and pulled her up and over his shoulder.

Meryl laughed, "I think you forgot something!" she said, pointing towards the kitchen drawer. Snake responded by gently slapping her thigh.

"This is why you're my kind of girl…"

**Disclaimer: All rights belong to their respective owners.**

_AN: Don't ask, this one just kind of wrote itself…_


End file.
